Not sure whose credit score (mine or dad's) is affected by debt collections- Could use help!

[c2868669]

Hello everyone,

EDIT: I realized this was pretty long, here's the summary: went to three different hospitals for medical emergency, gave them my contact info and insurance card with dad's name on it, had expenses that were not covered by insurance, didn't know about bills until they were past due, Hospital #2 sent bill to collections, not sure whether I should send PFD or whose account record of debt collections will appear on

Thanks for taking the time to read this! Basically, here's my situation...

I'm 20 years old, a junior in college, and on my dad's health insurance plan. At the beginning of the fall semester, around August 31st, I had trouble breathing in class and took the ambulance to Hospital #1. I'm 95% sure (keep in mind, I was pretty sick at the time) that I gave them my contact info as well as my insurance card, which has my dad listed on it. After I was discharged, my mom came to pick me up. I started feeling bad again at my mom's house and she drove me to the nearest hospital (Hospital #2), a regional branch of Hospital #3, which is where I was eventually transferred. Again, I'm pretty sure I gave both Hospital #2 and #3 the same information as I did before- my contact info and my insurance card with my dad listed. My dad came up to see me (he and my mom are divorced; I live with mom during breaks because she's closer to my university), and he said not to worry about any of the health insurance fees or medical bills.

So Thanksgiving Break rolls around, and it's the first time I've been home since my mom came to pick me up from the hospital. And apparently Hospitals #1, #2, and #3 have been sending me bills for various expenses, which I guess were either not covered by insurance or are deductibles of some kind (I'm really not sure though; kind of lost here). They've had late fees accumulating all this time; my mom didn't tell me that I'd been getting all these bills for the past 12 weeks or so. I call my dad about them, and he says to just mail them all to him. So another two weeks or so pass and I'm back home for Christmas break on the 13th. I get another letter in the mail, but this time it's from a collection agency. Apparently Hospital #2 sent their bill to this agency.

Okay, so that's the back story... I'm not really sure what to do now. Are they sending the letters and bills to me because they have my contact info, or because I'm responsible for the payment? Will the 'sent to debt collections' mark be on my dad's credit score or mine? And regardless, should I be considering a PFD? My dad said he'd have the money available for the entire bill on the 27th of this month. That's well within the 30 days the collection agency gave me to dispute the validity of the debt. Or is it already too late? My Dad also thinks PFD's are "one of those 'clean slate' credit report scams" and I don't know enough about them to argue with that...

So in short, I could really use some advice. I have several phone numbers that I could call, but I'm not sure whether I'd just end up ringing a debt collector who would try to harass me until I paid. Is it safe to call the original creditor (Hospital #2)? I'm just sitting here shocked that I managed to screw up my credit score so badly so soon. I was hovering around the bottom 20th percentile for a while, but that was mostly due to student loans and not having any credit cards open (still don't have any open). And now I (may) have a record that won't go away for another 7 years. I'm pretty sure I'll be in the market for an apartment or at least a new (used) car before then. Again, I could really use any some advice.

~C

[09Lexie]

Welcome to the forum.  Although you've received notices from CAs, go back to the hospitals and attempt you pay the debt with them.  Since it just happened they maybe willing to recall the account.

If that doesn't work, contact the CAs and ask for a PFD.  They may be more willing because they account was just assigned.  

[notfancy]

The Pay for Delete is not a scam of any sort. You're not getting any credit for it, you're negotiating to get negatives removed for paying a debt that you owe. It's a compromise of sorts that can only help you. Medical / hospital debts seem to be the easiest ones to get this from. Your best option is to contact the hospital, ask them to remove the accounts from collections / have them deleted from collections, and work out a payment arraingement with them. Apologize for the misunderstanding and lack of communication. Be honest and earnest.

A lot of people fluff off medical debt and it sounds like your parents did just that to your detriment. I wouldn't count on them to help out with the bill if they can't be made to understand how important it is to your credit. I had a small $100 hospital bill from a co-pay that I over looked some how and it caused me to be declined for accounts and dropped my score.

You can look up "pay for delete" in the search function here, and it will be explained to you a lot better. Good luck getting it all straightened out, and please let us know how it turned out for you!

Also for more rebuilding help or advice look through this forum for guiness the moderator, her signature has a ton of very helpful links in it. She is the Credit Rebuilder Extraordinaire and will have a ton of helpful information for you.

[guiness56]

notfancy - Thanks for that.

OP for your question about whose CR?  It can be either or both of yours.  If you are of legal age, it can be put on yours.  It can be put on your dads because by providing his insurance, he becomes the responsible party.

[c2868669]

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for the responses!

I've been spending most of the afternoon on the phone, and apparently the situation is not as bad as I thought... the collections agency apparently has not yet reported to the credit score company, so I'm fine on that front as long as either me or my dad can pay before the 30 days are up (fortunately that bill is the smallest one). So it shouldn't be on either of our credit scores. I also contacted the other hospitals and they haven't sent anything to collections and I've been able to work out a plan with them so far.

Again, thanks for the advice everyone! The hospitals were a lot more willing to work something out then I would have thought. I'm definitely relieved about the whole thing now.

~C

[guiness56]

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@c2868669 wrote:

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for the responses!

I've been spending most of the afternoon on the phone, and apparently the situation is not as bad as I thought... the collections agency apparently has not yet reported to the credit score company, so I'm fine on that front as long as either me or my dad can pay before the 30 days are up (fortunately that bill is the smallest one). So it shouldn't be on either of our credit scores. I also contacted the other hospitals and they haven't sent anything to collections and I've been able to work out a plan with them so far.

Again, thanks for the advice everyone! The hospitals were a lot more willing to work something out then I would have thought. I'm definitely relieved about the whole thing now.

~C

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Great!   But don't be a stranger here.

[notfancy]

Oh that's wonderful! It is a relief when you can head off credit problems before they start verses trying to clean them up after the fact!